


the prince of summer

by dragonwell_nova_system



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:48:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22562764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwell_nova_system/pseuds/dragonwell_nova_system
Summary: a fae prince collects three humans in his quadrants and learns to open up. he helps them, the people they care for, and himself.
Relationships: Eridan Ampora/Gamzee Makara, Eridan Ampora/Karkat Vantas, Eridan Ampora/Sollux Captor
Comments: 3
Kudos: 62





	the prince of summer

Your name is-  
you know better than to share your full name.  
In a world where sharing your true name can mean putting your life in someone's hands...you know better.  
You are known as **Prince** , which is still a part of your name, but not a very strong part.  
You refuse to share your name with anyone unless you trust them, and at this point in time, you really don't trust anyone.  
You are one of the fae.  
This is fairly common knowledge, most people can identify the fae folk fairly easily.  
What isn't common knowledge, is how powerful you are. You knew if you shared that, you'd be kicked out of the school you went to.  
Yes, you go to a human school.  
Your **Mother** had thought it was a good idea.  
You disagreed.

You and your sister were in school together. Your sister, however, was a grade above you. Which you found completely stupid and nonsensical, because you both were the exact same age, but whatever.

You enjoyed learning what humans taught their young. You especially enjoyed when they would give an offhand comment of advice on how to repel a member of the fae, then would glance at you.

You couldn't resist the grin that split your face every time that happened.

You knew better than to tell people important information about yourself.

You never told anyone your status in fae society. You didn't tell anyone your real name, even parts of it. You didn't tell anyone about **Mother**. You never told anyone about your interests.

But some things...you couldn't keep a secret.

You got bored easily. You were easily distracted. You didn't pick up on jokes, or certain social cues.

But, these things were expected of you. You were fae, after all.

What wasn't expected of you, was your hobbies.

You enjoyed drawing. You couldn't draw realistically, but you enjoyed it.

You used your classmates and teachers as...subjects. You enjoyed drawing the people around you.

People never expected this.

Someone would see you drawing and they'd do a double take. No one had the balls to ask you what you were drawing.

Until now.

It was lunch time, and you were sitting in the library, drawing. You did not expect someone to sit down in front of you and start up a conversation.

They were quiet, enough that they wouldn't get in trouble. But still talking to you.

No one did that.

That kind of...sparked a friendship. This was the only person you knew other than your sister, and...

The two of you just clicked.

You knew better than to assume things - pronouns, being a big one you never assumed. But there were a few things you could assume, with the right evidence of course.

Your friend's name was **Gamzee**. He had told you his full name, but you refused to use it, as you did not want to accidentally cause him any harm.

He seemed to have little control over himself, and he reminded you of some fae you knew of.

He had a habit of spacing out, and didn't always seem fully there. Though, you couldn't judge him for this.

You made fun of him sometimes, saying that it was good he had you around, or he'd be in a lot of trouble, in more ways than one.

He was...different. But, well, so were you.

Birds of a feather, yes?

"Gamzee." You snapped your fingers in front of his face a couple of times, getting his attention. He shook his head and grinned at you.

"Hey, sorry about that, brother. I fuckin' spaced out somethin' wicked there, didn't I?"

"Indeed you did." You rolled your eyes. You had a habit of trying to avoid words that were...affected by your accent. Everyone referred to it as an accent at least, which...wasn't too far from the truth of it. Sometimes you slipped up however.

"I must get to class, and I assume you should also." 

"Ohh, you're totally right, dude, completely forgot about that." Gamzee got up and gave you the same dopey grin he usually bore, that you'd grown to find...endearing.

"As usual." You gathered your things and glanced over at Gamzee. "Try not to do somethin' too _stupid,_ since I likely cannot be there to help you out." Sometimes, avoiding certain letters and words made it difficult to sound as sophisticated as you'd like.

Gamzee let you go as he headed off to his own class. You shoved your pencils and pens into your pockets, making sure you had them all. You made sure to avoid the dramatics you usually went to while in the company of other fae, but you just couldn't help some of it. You refused to look like a commoner, even if humans had little sense or care for that recently. But you also refused to not have pockets. Pockets! Humans could be so fucking smart sometimes.

You stepped into your classroom and set your bag down on the floor next to the desk you'd claimed as your own. The teachers were... _kind_ enough(too scared of you not to), to keep you in the seat you'd claimed in each class.

As if you'd have it any other way.

While you could purposefully avoid saying words that were affected by your accent, you could also avoid saying things using said accent. Though, while it was possible, it didn't come without repercussions.

You had managed to avoid tipping any humans off to your...speech impediment for the past eight years(as you'd joined their school in second grade, and it was your freshman year), and you'd hope to continue that trend.  
Humans seemed to care more when someone or something was different from the "norm" after all.

You were already frustrated by one of your classmates, **Sollux** \- the asshole seemed to make it his goal to piss you off every day. But today he'd been especially bad, and he'd made it personal. Honestly, it would almost make you think he was flirting pitch. If you didn't know better. Humans didn't have a sense for that after all.

So that lead you to where you'd been sitting in the library, trying to get some peace and fucking quiet for the past two class periods.

You had, of course, sent an email to your teachers who's classes you'd missed, so you could get the work later.  
And while you were in the middle of reading a book, curled up on one of the bean bag chairs in the library-

You heard a shriek. Not of fear, but of obvious anger.

You curled in on yourself and covered your ears, hissing, quite like a terrified cat but much louder, in the vague direction of the person who murdered your peace and quiet. "Wwhat the fuck!" You spat in the same direction.

Quiet, again, quickly followed after the instinctual reaction you'd had. You give yourself a moment to chill out, then huff, getting up and heading over to the source of the Sun awful sound.

"I am quite sure I'm not the only one in this library that might appreciate the peace and quiet associated." You crossed your arms, looking down at the...vague blur of grey and pale skin. Yeah, you didn't have the best eyesight. But you preferred not to let that be obvious.

At the silence you got in response to your statement, you sat down on the ground in front of the person, to get a better look at them.

They were...on their phone. Of course. It seemed like humans couldn't get enough of those stupid devices. Even your sister had adopted the usage of one of those things.  
They hurt your eyes to much for you to be comfortable using one.

"Excuse me. I'd like to understand the reasoning behind that horrible sound that came out 'a your mouth."

"Fuck off, asshole-"

You blinked. ...that was interesting. Someone that wasn't too scared of you to curse at you, other than Gamzee. Gamzee cursed at everyone.

"...I don't think I need to." You reached over and touched their face, making them look at you. Your face split into a grin, that looked...fairly unsettling, your teeth not being the least reasoning. But, instead of looking afraid, they just...flushed?  
You knew humans had red blood, but you didn't suspect that they also blushed red. But what you did know was that blushing was not caused by fear.

"Tell me your reasonin' for that sound."

"...friend told me something stupid as fuck-"

You hummed and got comfortable, crossing your legs and leaning forward. "I assume you don't havve the intention to share anythin' else?"

"Why the fuck do you sound like that?" They put their phone away after asking this, scowling at you.

You blinked some, then scowled some yourself. "Is that really any 'a your business?" 

"No, but I'm fucking curious. Kanaya doesn't sound like that."  
How interesting. This human knew another fae? And one of high ranking in your court, no less. "Howw do you knoww my Knight?" Fuck, you let that slip-

"...Your Knight?? But she said she-" The look of realization on their face made you flinch. 

"...no wonder your goddamned nickname is Prince, how have people not fucking realized this yet?" You blinked, having expected a...different reaction, than simply that.

"...I havve no idea. Humans are vvery...unobservvant, I'vve learned."

They rolled their eyes and held out a hand to you. "Call me Karkat. He/him pronouns."

You hummed softly and took Karkat's hand after a second, having inspected it to make sure there wasn't anything that might harm you, shaking it. This was nothing like your culture, but you'd learned certain things about humans due to the time you'd spent in this school. "...I'd appreciate if you called me Prince. He/him pronouns as well." Karkat nodded as you let go of his hand.

You and Karkat didn't talk as often as you did with Gamzee, as you didn't share any classes with the crab man, but something interesting happened around June.

Karkat approached you and handed you a sheet of paper, folded in half.

He'd gone to class afterwards, as he'd given it to you at the end of lunch, and you did the same thing.

You didn't get around to opening the paper up until after school. You'd been hanging around, sitting in a tree, back in the forest, when you remembered the little sheet of paper in your backpack. You climbed down from the tree and grabbed it, sitting on the ground now as you looked over it.  
It was...an invitation. To a...birthday party? What the hell was a birthday party? But, it was set for the 12th of the month, which...well, it didn't get in the way of any of the things on his schedule. So he figured, hey, might as well go. It might look good for him to go to Karkat's party after all.  
**Mother** seemed happy with your decision as well.

As soon as the day rolled around and school let out, you checked the time and address on the card. Karkat wouldn't mind if you were early, right? You honestly didn't care if he did mind or not. You just went over there.

Knocking on the door, you didn't expect who opened it at all. This person looked similar to Karkat, but also, at the same time...nothing like him. The two of you stared each other in the face for a moment, completely silent.

"...Lovely. The cake isn't even ready yet as far as I'm aware." The person sighed, unaware of your inner turmoil. Who the hell really was this?

"Wwho are you?" You blurted out, causing the Karkat lookalike to sigh.

"Call me **Kankri**. I'm Karkat's older brother. Now...you're early. Karkat isn't even home yet." You assumed since he used a masculine word to describe himself, you could use he/him pronouns for him.

"Oh...then could you tell me wwhere he is?"

"Why do you want to know where he is?"

"...I don't knoww wwhat a birthday party is?" And because Karkat was your friend and you wanted to greet him. You missed him, because you didn't actually get to see him very often.

Kankri seemed...amused? But you couldn't figure out why exactly. "I'm not sure where he would be. He doesn't tell me those things." You frowned some at this response.

"Kankri, who's at the door?" Another person who looked like Karkat - though, they looked more like Kankri than your friend - approached, and you scowled.

"Howw many people who look like Kar livve in this house?"  
The unnamed person laughed and set a hand on Kankri's shoulder, holding their other hand out to you. "Just us two, don't worry about it. Hey, I'm their dad. You're one of Karkat's friends?"

You took his hand to shake and nodded. "I...assume so, as I consider him a friend, and I'd hope he'd consider me the same. Call me Prince."

"Pardon me for asking, but you're one of the fae, correct?" Kankri opened his mouth to say something, but his dad put his hand over his mouth to muffle what he was saying. He was still talking, even behind his father's hand, but you couldn't make out anything he said. This must've been a common occurrence, so you just shrugged it off. You nodded in response to this question. You had no reason to hide it. But, you were curious-

"Howw did you realize?"

"Your quirk. I had an...old friend, who explained a lot of things about fae to me." You couldn't help the grin that split your face. It wasn't as menacing as it could be, when you were angry, but it was definitely creepy. Kankri went quiet upon seeing this, obviously a bit unnerved by seeing a fae with this expression. And rightfully so.

"May I come in? I'd like to knoww more about this fae you knoww."  
  
You and Karkat's father - he'd told you that their family name (what the fuck even was that) was **Vantas** , so you'd been calling him by that - had been talking for a good couple of hours. He was telling you about his adoptive mother - a fae from the Summer Court who'd died many years ago. He'd described her, and you'd recognized the description. You'd recognize the description no matter what. She was the spitting image of your Knight's elder sister. And from what you knew from said Knight, their mother had died soon after she was born, and had raised a human who lived in town. As such, everything just fit together.

You were explaining the relationship between fae royalty and their Knights, when you heard the door open. Your ears pricked up as you turned to face the door, only to see Karkat. You perked up even more, your ears standing up for a reason other than wariness. "Kar! Hello!"

Karkat rolled his eyes as he stepped inside, shutting the door behind him and taking his shoes off. "Hey."

"May I ask you a question-"

"Shoot." Karkat sat down in a chair next to the couch and leaned forward some, looking right at you.

"Wwhat is a birthday party?"

Karkat blinked some, then rubbed his face. "Do fae not have a celebration for their birthdays?"

"Nope." His dad chuckled, and you were just confused and curious.

"Wwhat is a _birthday_?"

"Oh my fucking god." Karkat sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"It took me twelve years to figure out what my birthday was and five more to get my mother to celebrate it."

" _Wwhat is a birthday_!" You were just confused and wanted answers already!

"Okay, okay. A birthday is basically the day you were born." You blinked again. "...are fae even born." 

"I wwasn't. Wwell, my sister and I wweren't. I don't knoww if others wwere?"

"Well, fuck it, a birthday party is basically a stupid fucking celebration that says "hey! good job, you made it, you didn't fucking die, now you gotta make it another goddamned year!" It's bullshit."

"...it sounds bullshit."

"Am I the only one in this house who appreciates birthdays?" Dad Vantas pouted.

"Yes." Three different voices responded, as Kankri walked downstairs.

"Anyways, I'm going to go get the cake. Please do not do anything too stupid while I'm gone." Kankri stepped outside after he said this, shutting the door behind himself.  
  
The three of you who were left in the living room started talking (and minorly arguing in Karkat and your case) while Karkat and his dad started setting things up for the party. You wanted to help, but you didn't understand what stuff was, or how a human party was supposed to work. You'd only been to a couple fae parties even, and those were mainly the solstice parties. So, you just watched them, spacing out and forgetting to respond to Karkat sometimes.  
Speaking of which, you'd been spacing out, when Karkat snapped in front of your face. "Unless you want to terrify my other guests, you better not fucking look at people like that."  
"It isn't like I purposefully do that-" You scowled at Karkat, who blinked. "...do you seriously think I do that on purpose?"  
"I wasn't sure. The fae are harder to read than humans."  
"Then learn. I'd said the same thing about humans before I got to know them better." Though, that was because you'd made friends with Gamzee, and sometimes you were still confused on whether he was fae or human. He didn't even seem to know, or care.  
Karkat rolled his eyes and sat down. "Just try not to make all of the people my dad convinced me to invite scared shitless."  
"No promises." You smirked some, and Karkat swatted at your arm, causing you to laugh. "Okay, okay, I'll try. But seriously, no promises."  
  
The party started when the next couple of guests got there, and you were mainly just, in the background, observing. You really didn't know what was going on. You gathered that this was similar to the Giving Event you had near the end of Summer and Winter, but everyone was just giving Karkat wrapped boxes? You assumed there was stuff inside, obviously, but you didn't know why this was a thing. But, you'd already asked a stupid question today, you weren't going to ask another - probably even stupider - question, and possibly embarrass yourself in front of more people than just Karkat and his father.

You also learned why they had a cake! And you were very glad they had a cake. It was a very good cake. There were leftovers, and you couldn't resist asking Karkat if he could take some of said leftover cake back with you. He was fine with that, and you were fairly excited to bring cake home to your sister. She'd be excited about it, surely!

As soon as the party ended, you headed back to the forest with the cake in a Tupperware container Dad Vantas had borrowed you. You entered the forest, and instantly let your glamour down. As you went to find your sister, you held the container under your arm. When she appeared in front of you, you stumbled back a bit, looking up at her. "Fef! I havve somethin' for you!"

"W)(ere )(ave you B--EEN?" Feferi, your sister, hugged you and you blinked. "You're usually back before me! But you only just got back!!"

"Oh, Fef, it's okay, I'm alright-" You wrapped an arm around her shoulders, patting her back. Since neither of you actually had a partner in your pale quadrants, the two of you tended to act like Moirails to each other, which was common between siblings. It actually helped siblings to have a stronger relationship. Though it helped that you both also had actual friends, you had less, sure, but Gamzee was a wonderful listener.

"Please, w)(ere were you, **Mother** wouldn't tell me!" The only word that no fae's quirk would ever effect was your Mother's name and other titles. You rubbed your sister's back, shushing her.

"I wwas wwith a friend, I wwent to his birthday party." She relaxed as she heard this, pulling away to check you over. 

"T)(ey were accommodating to you? Made sure you knew w)(at was going on and t)(at t)(ere was not)(ing that could )(arm you?"

"There wwas no iron, and they answwered all my questions, yes." She finally let you go after you said this, sighing softly.

"W)(o was t)(is friend t)(en? I know it probably wasn't Gamzee, was it?" You shook your head as the two of you sat down underneath the witch hazel all royalty emerged from.

"It wwas Kar. Karkat."

"O)(!" She grinned and grabbed your face, kissing your forehead. "You finally made some new friends!"

You flushed some and pushed her off of you, rolling your eyes. "Gam wwas also at the party, he an' Kar are friends and I didn't knoww."

"Well )(ow LOV--ELY! I'm so happy for you Erifin!" Sometimes, your sister's affinity for fish puns could irritate you, but not when she changed your name like that. It was sweet.

"Mm. I'm glad. I brought cake, here." You pushed the container into her lap.

The two of you gorged yourselves on the leftover cake that night, and weren't able to go to school in the morning. Sugar...affected fae differently than humans, especially in large quantities.

The effects of sugar depended on whether it was natural or artificial, and how concentrated it was. While fruits were completely fine and had little effect, artificial sugars had more of an effect, especially with how concentrated they could be in baked goods made by humans. It was one of the few things all fae agreed they loved about what the humans had done for the world. Sugar was addictive, and you could never get enough of it with just fruits! And honey...well.

Let's say, most of your kind avoided honey like the plague.

You hated him.

You hated his stupid face, you hated that stupid lisp. You hated his dual toned eyes(humans shouldn't have weird eyes! it was weird and it creeped you out a lot!), the fact that his depth perception was completely off because he was blind in one eye. You hated how you felt obligated to helped him when you were together and he got overstimulated, because you were the only one who understood how to help with that. You hated how _fucking smart_ he was, challenging even you, even when you were at the top of your classes.

You hated him, you hated him, you hated him.

And you hated how none of that was platonic.

 **Sollux Captor** was a _human_. He had no sense of black attractions, you'd have to explain so much to him, and even then he may not understand!

There was a field trip today, just for people in one of the advanced classes you were in - and Sollux was on the trip too.

The classes had been assigned seats on the bus. As there were a lot of people when they combined the classes, this was pretty important. It was a bit of a "buddy system" deal. Whoever you sat right next to was your "partner" for the day.

And you were put right next to _Sollux_.

You two silently agreed to not acknowledge each other's existence on the bus. You had gotten the window seat, and Sollux got the isle seat. The both of you were doing your own thing, you were reading a book you'd borrowed from the library, and he was on his phone. Eugh, stupid phones, bright and noisey. Your sister's liked to wake you up before you were supposed to be woken up.

Though Sollux's was quiet, and you appreciated that a lot. You hoped it stayed that way.

Halfway through the bus ride, you noticed the thin little cord connecting his phone to his ears, and you were trying to figure out what it was when he wasn't looking. When he was you pretended to be reading the book you'd brought with you. You really couldn't figure out what the fuck it was. It split a bit above the middle and he had it in his ears. He wouldn't be able to hear anything going on around him! They seemed really stupid and useless to you.

After a few minutes you determined they were completely useless and stupid and turned to your book to actually focus on it.

As soon as you got to the place, Sollux pulled you aside and grabbed you by the shoulders, staring right at you. And it was creeping you the fuck out. You! Hated! His! Eyes!

"You were staring at me on the bus. You stare at me a lot. Why the fuck?"

That stupid fucking _lisp_ \- oh you fucking hate this asshole so much. You hissed at him and shoved his hands off of you. "Because I don't understand anythin' about you or your species you stupid bastard. And it irritates me!"

He blinked at you, then gave you this- look! That fucking look, it made you feel so stupid and inferior, you hated it! You could kill him at a moment's notice, yet he treated you like anyone else, and it- ...you didn't understand why it made you so angry. You encouraged that behavior with your friends, but with him it pissed you off to no end. Everything about him pissed you off though. He took out his phone, the cords wrapped around it. "Are you talking about my fucking phone?"

"No, I knoww wwhat a phone is, asshole- I'm talkin' andbout the stupid little cord thing wwhat the fuck-"

Sollux snorted and you flushed a soft violet, your ears twitching and wriggling. "My fucking headphones?"

"If that's wwhat the useless cord thing is called then yes-" What was fucking funny about this? Ugh, you wanted to just-

"They play music, stupid. I'll show you on the bus ride back."

And he did show you. Well, not so much show you as much as he just shoved one of the stupid things in your ear and almost hurt you in doing so, then played some music.

From what you knew about music, it didn't come from little electronic boxes that you hated. You _liked_ music. But...this was nice. The music Sollux had you listen to was...interesting. He probably didn't listen to the stuff regularly, but it was nice.

...You did not want to have to tell your sister about this exchange. But you needed advice from someone about your very pitch feelings towards this stupid little human.

You checked in with Karkat after school, which had become a part of your routine, then went back to the witch hazel. You left a note for her next to the tree, stuck there with some magic and written on a piece of your notebook paper. You didn't want her worrying about you again. She dealt with enough of your shit.

But you needed to talk to **Mother**. 

Being one of two fae who could communicate with the spirit of the forest came with both pros and cons.

You had immense control over the forest, and that included those who lived in it. You had powers almost unknown to other fae, that they would never be able to even dream of having. And you had access to a being with knowledge of the world from the moment it was born.

In a sense, the spirit of the forest wasn't actually of the forest at all. She was of the world, of all of nature. The forest was just where her influence was strongest.

The cons...well, there was one, one major one.

You were tied to your **Mother** in ways unimaginable to mortal beings.

She was your mother, but also you at the same time. If she thrived, you did as well. However, if the forest faltered...so did you. Your sister and you were in just as much risk as your **Mother** was at any point in time.

Thankfully, it was around the middle of Spring. As such, your connection with her was strengthening, so it was easier to talk to her than it would be in Winter or early Spring.

The conversation gave little light to the situation, on your **Mother's** part, but it helped you sort things out. And she enjoyed getting to know about the things happening with you every now and then.

But the conversation actually did more harm than good you feel.

Sorting your feelings out for Sollux also helped you sort your feelings out for some other people you knew. And it brought to light a pair of...interesting realizations.

You were flushed for Karkat and pale for Gamzee.

Which, weren't as big of a deal as a pitch crush on a human. But...it still was not ideal.

How were you supposed to explain this to them? How did anyone explain quadrants to a human? Let alone three! You knew people had done it, but...you didn't know how. And you didn't know who to ask for help.

You decided to start with the simplest. Humans had a good grasp of the flushed quadrant, as their romance essentially revolved around it. So, you set to meet after school with Karkat, during lunch. You wanted time to explain the rest of the quadrants as well, and you didn't think lunch would give you enough time for that.

The two of you met up at the main doors to the school, then started walking to his house. You'd had to express that you wanted to talk about this in private, so you were just chatting about random, inconsequential things on the way.

Karkat unlocked the door to his house, verbally inviting you inside as he also stepped inside, with you right behind him.

"So, what'd you wanna talk about?" You hesitated a moment as he asked this.

"It's...a lot to explain, and I'd think we should get comfortable." He raised his eyebrow, but nodded. 

"Make yourself comfortable in my room, just don't fuck with my shit, you remember where it is?"

You nodded and headed upstairs, fidgeting with one of your sleeves as you did. You'd brought a change of clothes in your backpack, as you thought you might want to wear something more fae like and comfortable when you got here, and you pretty much did. So, you took the opportunity to change in Karkat's bathroom before going to his room.

The outfit was a fairly simple one by fae standards, if another fae saw you wearing something like this they'd take a second look. You genuinely didn't enjoy _all_ of the dramatics that came with being fae royalty. You enjoyed the dramatics, sure. But not overly dramatic things, and overly fancy clothing especially.

Karkat came back with some snacks- some sweets they had lying around for you, and something more savory for himself. He'd gotten used to your taste for sweets, and they hadn't had to change anything about what they kept in the house anyways. Their father had a taste for sweets anyways.

And while usually sugar was one of your favorite things, today it made your stomach turn. You hadn't eaten anything since this morning, as you'd been too nervous to.

"So. What the hell do you want to talk about?"

No more delaying. You fidgeted with one of your rings as you thought of how to phrase this. "...wwhat do you knoww about fae romance?"

You had expected a weird look, but you got something you didn't expect instead. Karkat turned to you and grinned, obviously excited. "My dad's told me that it's different from ours, and that they worked in quadrants, but he never told me any damned specifics. I've been curious as fuck since I met you."

You laughed softly, nodding some. That made things easier.

It took you some time to fully explain the quadrants to Karkat, especially as he kept pausing you to take notes. He'd dug out a small notebook before you'd started explaining things, and he'd asked so many questions. It was...helpful, to say the least. And endearing. Though, many things about Karkat were endearing.

"You nevver cease to amaze me, Kar." You shook your head some, a fond smile curling at your lips. At his confused expression, you elaborated. "I'd nevver expect someone like you ta be so enamoured with romance." You'd been lessening your control on the actual accent part of your quirk, but when in public you still tried to avoid using words with a 'w' or 'v'.

"Listen, I've been fucking obsessed with romance since I was a kid, getting to learn about another species' romance system? That's a dream come fucking true."

You shook your head with a slight smile, chuckling. "Wwell, that's one part of this convversation done wwith."

"There's more?" Karkat looked at you, obviously pretty curious.

"Yeah, but none 'a the rest 'a this is relatin' to romantic knowledge. It's more...direct romance."

"Are you asking me for advice with asking someone out? Because I feel like I'm the absolute worst person to ask if you're a fae."

You snorted and shook your head. "Not really. I mean, sorta, but not exactly."

He seemed intriuged now, turning to face you more and setting his notebook down. "What is it then?"

"...I'm flushed for you, Karkat."

It took Karkat a few seconds to comprehend what you meant, and afterwards he slowly started to turn red. Your face was already dusted with a soft violet, and you were just waiting for his reply. You didn't assume silence was a no- you were patient and knew better than that. 

It took him about half a minute to speak up, and he had to clear his throat before hand. "I...well, I mean, we could...try? We could go on a date or something...shit what is the fae equivalent of a date-"

You chuckled and set your hand against his. "I'll do wwhatevver is considered normal for humans. It'd be easier than tryin' ta explain wwhy I havve a human with me in faerie."

This seemed to be the right thing to say, as he relaxed after you did. The two of you set things up, deciding to try it for the next month instead of anything sooner.

That was only the beginning however. You had two other humans to explain fae romance to, and ask out in specific quadrants. Though you had help this time, and you probably wouldn't tell them as quickly as you did with Karkat. You had a feeling he was an outlier in how quickly he understood things.

And, you were right.

After setting up a day and time that worked for both Gamzee and Sollux, you explained things to them, Karkat there and letting the other two humans use his notes for reference. He helped explain things in simpler terms sometimes as well. Mostly for Gamzee,

Though, Gamzee did prove you wrong on one thing after that.

You thought it'd take longer for Gamzee to understand and come to terms with all of it. You, being a reasonable person, hadn't told him or Sollux about your feelings for him as of then, having wanted them to fully understand things first.

That had been proved completely wrong pretty quickly after that.

It was only a couple of days after you'd explained the quadrants to Gamzee and Sollux. You were sitting at the table you and Gamzee usually sat at, a piece of scrap paper sitting in front of you. You were doodling- nothing in particular really, and not even anything you personally were thinking about. You weren't even really paying attention to the whole of what you were drawing, just letting instinct take over. It was your subconscious and magic doing the actual drawing.

Gamzee came up and sat next to you, a bit later than how late he usually was. You looked up and at him, still letting your subconscious guide your hand as you drew. You didn't do this often- as a fae, letting your magic determine what you do with your creative outlets...it could cause some realizations that you weren't always capable of handling. Even more so as someone with the amount of magic you had.

"Hey, are ya doin' alright?" It was hard for you to ask questions sometimes- you couldn't use certain words, so you often just told people to give you answers. But this was an easy question.

"Yeah, I'm doing great, brother." Gamzee gave you one of his stupid little lopsided grins. Those used to irritate you, but now they were a source of comfort. You nodded some, facing him but still drawing. "What're you drawing?" He leaned over and looked at the paper.

You shrugged. "Dunno. Might be somethin' hugely important, might be just a bunch of scribbles." You hadn't looked at it at all yet.

"Looks good to me, motherfucker." You expected a question about how you didn't know what you were drawing, but weren't surprised to not get one. Gamzee didn't usually ask for stuff, you needed to remember that.

After another moment of silence, where you were mainly drawing and trying not to focus on anything too much, Gamzee spoke up again. "I've been thinkin' about them awesome motherfuckin' miracles you spilled at me and the bee brother."

You looked up at him, humming to show that you were listening. While you were, your hand stopped and set the colored pen you were using down, resting palm-down on your paper. "An'?"

"Well, ya gotta have a good motherfucking reason to tell a motherfucker somethin' like that. And I've been wantin' to know the reason now that I understand it, brother."

You almost couldn't believe he understood it all already. But, well. This was Gamzee. You should get used to being surprised by him. "Yes, there is a reason I told you that. But first, I'd like for you to tell me the reason you understood it so quickly. Sollux still doesn't understand, I'm pretty sure. He's been...dodging me a bit."

"I dunno motherfucker, it just kinda...made sense. Like a motherfucker just dropped a miracle I'd been expectin' on me an' I was all like "yeah seems right, brother". Ya get me?"

You did indeed "get him". You nodded and tapped your fingers on your thigh as you thought. "...I'm pale for you, Gamzee." You explained after a moment. 

The expected moment of silence never came. Instead, Gamzee just hummed. "Sounds about right, brother. I'd guess I feel the same way for a motherfucker, if I'm readin' my own feelings right."

This was too good to be true? Two out of three? And both in the red half of the quadrants? You could die happy right now. You leaned over into Gamzee's side and purred some. "That's wwonderful newws."

Gamzee had definitely heard your quirk before, but not very often. He gently draped an arm around you. "How does a motherfucker not fuck up bein' someone's palebro?"

"Just like any relationship, it's about communication-"

You went on to explain the basics of moirailegance, and what being someone's moirail entailed. Gamzee seemed to catch on pretty easily, and even said something about how he didn't understand why humans wouldn't have someone to have a position like that in their romantic lives.

As soon as lunch ended, you took a look at the subconscious picture your magic had drawn for you. It looked like a purely blue planet with clouds covering it, and some other, smaller planets around it.

It looked familiar, but also different. Something inside of you - other than your magic - thought it was important.

You couldn't determine what was important about it right now though.

The one you'd been most concerned over was Sollux. Humans had no concept of black relationships. And he'd been avoiding you, where as usually he'd at least make fun of you and such in the classes you had together. It was...frustrating. You missed it, and wanted to see him again.

And, you got the opportunity to a couple of days after talking to Gamzee.

The two of you were assigned to a group project that would require quite a bit of research, and writing a paper on the computers. And, obviously, since you were the least tech savvy person in the school, you were partner with the person who was the most tech savvy. And who likely wanted to rub it in your face.

The two of you met up outside of the school right after school.

The two of you walked to an apartment complex nearby the school. He brought you inside and to his apartment, and you chose, wisely, not to say anything about the...state of his living environment.

"Ugh...sorry about the mess." Sollux muttered as he kicked stuff out of the way. "Shoes off here." He gestured to the mat that had shoes on it as he kicked off his own shoes and set them there.

You hated wearing shoes, but you also didn't want to damage your feet, so you were very grateful that Sollux told you this. You took your shoes off and put them next to his, wiggling your toes and humming happily. "...there's no iron or anything lying around, right?"

"You should be fine, if not I'll scream at my dad." Sollux waved you off then started walking to his room.

You quickly followed him, before stopping suddenly as he held his hand out in front of you.

"DAD what the FUCK? WHY IS THERE A FUCKING NAIL ON THE GROUND?" Okay, he was serious about the yelling part. You winced and covered your ears, scrunching up your face some.

"Shit, sorry!" Sollux's dad hurried out of a bedroom and down to you guys, picking up the nail Sollux had seen. Thank the Night he saw it before you stepped on it, that would've been bad. He looked at you, then sighed. "Of course- I should've double checked. Sorry, kid." He ruffled Sollux's hair, who scrunched his face up and swatted at his hands. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, fuck off- c'mon, Prince." You hesitated as Sollux kept walking, quickly bowing to his father.

"Thank you for havving me in your home-" He gave an obviously weary smile, which you barely caught before running off to catch up to Sollux.

There wasn't anymore incidents with metals in the mean time, though Sollux did check his room before letting you inside. His room was the cleanest place in the house. Of course, not everything was neat and clean, but quite a lot of it was.

Almost one half of the room was practically spotless. His bed was perfectly made, there wasn't any garbage or anything on the floor anywhere in his room, or dirty clothes. There was an open window, and the natural light was the main source of illumination of the room. There was a couple of lamps and flashlights strewn around the room as well, but they weren't needed at the moment.

And while there was no garbage or other debris, one wall of the room was fully taken up by a large table. Said table had monitors and computers, all connected by a mess of wires. You wouldn't be able to even guess which wire went where, and you didn't have a clue of what any of it did.

Sollux took a seat on the floor, so you took his lead and sat down across from him. He grabbed something that looked like a larger version of a phone and set it in pretty close to you. You leaned over and poked the side of it, before looking at Sollux curiously.

"You have a better sense of grammar than me so you can do the writing portion of this...I'll handle the research." He looked at you and blinked. "What?" 

"I'm curious about this." You tapped the...thing. You didn't know what to call it. 

"Oh my god you're worse than I thought you were." He sighed and grabbed something else. It was a slightly smaller monitor, that could be folded and was connected to a keyboard. A mini computer, you assumed. "That's a tablet. I figured you'd be more able to handle something like a phone, but I'm not willing to let you use my phone. It's like a mix of a phone and a computer."

You picked the tablet up and he showed you were the power button was, and how to unlock it. He brought you to something, where you could type into what looked like a digital piece of paper.

The two of you started on the project, him telling you what to write and you writing it out in your own words. This wasn't actually all that hard to use, and you appreciated him letting you use it. It took some effort to not write using your quirk, but you managed. It was instinct to write using your quirk, so what you were writing was obviously yours, but here you didn't need to, it had your and Sollux's names on it already.

This went on for a little while, you getting better and better at writing using the tablet as you went. It was so much faster and easier than writing by hand! And it didn't hurt your hand as much, even with how long you'd been writing for. You heard a groan and looked up, to see Sollux rubbing at his eyes with his palms.

He got up and went over to the window, shutting it. The light had been diminishing as you worked, and it was almost gone now. He went and picked at something on a lamp, then turned it on somehow. He sat on his bed after grabbing his laptop, crossing his legs. "Okay, dude, for this to work, we have to talk."

You blinked, turning some to more comfortable face him. "About wwhat?" You thought things had been going fine. Did you accidentally miss something? Did you do or say something wrong?

"It has been awkward and tense as hell since we started working, and I know you probably don't realize it but fuck dude, you're confusing."

"Did I...do somethin'?" You scratched at the side of your face a bit, where the fins underneath your ear are. Of course, Sollux couldn't see them, thanks to your glamour. This was a habit you had when you felt nervous or anxious, or were lying, and Sollux was able to recognize this. He, Karkat, and Gamzee were the only humans who knew this about you.

He sighed and leaned forward. "Not today. But...when you explained quadrants to Gamzee and I." Oh. That.

You gave a soft noise deep in the back of your throat. It obviously wasn't human, and you usually tried to suppress those sounds, but you couldn't avoid it this time. You were worried. You didn't even tell him you were pitch for him yet!

"You hate me, don't you." Hearing this from Sollux was a bit confusing, but you nodded.

"I'm black for ya, yeah. I havve a pitch crush on ya."

Sollux sighed and rubbed at his forehead again. "Fuck."

"Do ya...not return the feelin's? Because if so, that's okay. I understand humans don't understand black feelin's."

"...I don't know if I understand. Because...sure, you're annoying, but I like spending time with you. And I'm not sure I could... _hate_ you." You gave a couple of clicks from deep in your throat, then chuckled. You understood now.

"That's wwhat black feelin's are. You like some aspects of the person, but other aspects are ones ya find annoyin' for some reason or another. There's a difference betwween platonic and romantic hate."

The two of you went on talking about quadrants, specifically the pitch and ashen quadrants. More or less explaining the boundary between a healthy and unhealthy kismesissitude, and what you yourself would be comfortable with, and what he was comfortable with for now. You knew those boundaries would change as the two of you got a better handle on the relationship. And, the both of you decided to try things out, but keep it on the down low. You were allowed to tell Gamzee and Karkat, but no one else. And, you agreed with that. No one else needed to know about your romantic endeavors. Well, other than **Mother** , but that was purely because you physically _couldn't_ hide anything from her.

During your senior year, you were having trouble in your classes. You'd been moving around a lot, until you started sitting at the very front of the classroom, as close as you could get to the teacher. You understood the content, yes, but you couldn't fully see the board or such

You, Karkat, and Gamzee went out during the long break you had between first and second semester. It was the first day of the break, and the three of you were at a park, in a secluded area.

The two of them seemed to be playing a game, where they named the features of something and tried to guess what it was. They asked you to play, so you decided to try it.

You squinted around you some. Gamzee had just named "something yellow and green that bees like". It had to be some sort of flower, but you couldn't see any clearly.

Karkat noticed your struggle and poked you on the shoulder. "Prince." You blinked, looking over at him. "Do you have trouble seeing?" You flushed a soft violet. You didn't think it was do obvious-

"I'vve...been havvin' trouble since I wwas younger, but it's been gettin' wworse recently."

Karkat glanced at Gamzee, then nodded and got up. "Let's go to Gamzee's house."

The three of you headed to the **Makara** household. It hit you that in as many years as you've known Gamzee, you'd never been to his house. Of course, you'd met his dad before, but that was because of how closely he worked with the Unseelie court, and specifically your sister. You knew of his brother as well, but had never met him.

Gamzee let you inside, and you and Karkat went to sit on the couch. The house was an organized chaos sort of place. Nothing looked particularly clean, but it wasn't bad. Not nearly as bad as Sollux's apartment.

Someone you barely recognized came downstairs. Ah, the elder Makara brother, you assumed. He looked like a mix between Gamzee and their father. He stared at you and Karkat for a moment, slightly unnerving you.

"...Hello." You greeted him, and he waved to you. He was...creepier than you, honestly. Creepier than most fae you'd met. He walked by you and to the kitchen, and you just watched him until he disappeared into it.

You heard footsteps coming downstairs, and two voices. One, obviously Gamzee's, and the other one you recognized. Their father. You stood up and gave a soft, easy smile as they came down.

He was likely shocked to see you, though you knew he wouldn't be showing his surprise. "Prince." He greeted you, and you nodded.

"Makara. Hello. It's nice ta see you again, and out 'a official business this time." Upon hearing that this wasn't official, you hoped he could relax. Not being able to see his reactions was hindering you...

"I'd like to apologize, but my son has told me of a...disability you have?" Other than the one he knew of. Few people knew of that one. You clicked a couple of times in annoyance, then nodded.

"I havve trouble seeing vvery far, and it's been causing me issues." You tensed as the elder Makara brother stepped out of the kitchen. You didn't like him. You couldn't read him, and you hated when humans were like that.

"I'm sure I can help with that." He gestured his elder son over, and he stepped over to his father and younger brother. "This is my elder son, **Kurloz**. I should tell you, he is unable to speak." Ah. That made sense. You nodded some.

"Kurloz. It's nice to finally meet you." He nodded as well, then looked at Gamzee and raised an eyebrow. The younger Makara grinned at his elder brother, who simply rolled his eyes. He set...something in his hands as he walked by, heading upstairs. Their father rolled his eyes and sat down in an arm chair. "Make yourself comfortable, yes?"

The four of you had a nice, long conversation. About how you knew each other, your relationships with each other, everything. And about your...disability. You hated using that word.

You also hated the place that the paternal Makara brought you to after the explanation. The five of you, including Kurloz, had all gotten into the car and went to a place that made your skin crawl.

Though, many places humans found normal did that to you.

You left the place with these frames that fit well on your face, and allowed you to see much better, as well as a spare pair and the things you needed to take care of them.

Karkat seemed fairly flustered whenever you looked at him, which he hadn't been very much for a long while.

Karkat held onto your spare pair of glasses and the case, cloths, and cleaning solution. And, when you'd brought your moirail and matesprit home, you took a walk around town. It was getting a bit late, and you wanted to see the town under the light of the setting sun with your glasses.

It was all so lovely.

The last month of the school year, a few weeks before graduation, you were snooping in the Makara's kitchen. Their father was out and about, helping your sister with something, and you were trying to find something you could eat.

You opened up a cupboard, and-

Honey.

Honey was like alcohol to the fae folk. If a fae drank honey, depending on the type of magic at the core of their magic, it could get them intensely drunk with just a few drops.

You avoided it like the plague.

And you knew it didn't affect humans in the same way as fae, but something just...clicked in your mind. Gamzee's affinity for sweets, the way he acted so often- he had to drink this stuff a lot, and that had to mean he had some type of magical core. And most likely...he was some type of fae, or maybe partially fae.

You'd have to talk with his father.

It was late when his father got home. Sollux had given you a phone a little while back, and you'd used that to text your sister to tell her you'd be home late. It was a pretty simple phone, but you'd been getting the hang of it, and you liked it. You hadn't told Sollux that of course.

It was dark when the Makara father got home, and you stood up from his couch, looking at him. He turned the light on and rolled his eyes at you. "Dramatic, ey, Prince?"

"'A course. Wwhy wwouldn't I be dramatic?" You grinned and stepped over to him.

"I just have to ask. Why are you here so late?"

"I wwas here spendin' time with Gamzee earlier. An' I got hungry, so I looked in your kitchen."

"Ah. You found Gamzee's honey." He sat down in the same chair he always took when you and him were having a talk.

"Yeah." You sat down across from him and sighed. "An' I suspect he has relation to one 'a the mid-level fae."

He sighed and nodded. "I've had the same suspicion for a while. From the day he got addicted to honey, and I've seen many other hints towards him being part fae."

"An' I assume you knoww wwho his mother is."

He nodded. "He and Kurloz are half brothers. Kurloz is completely human however."

"...Howw did you not knoww that Gamzee wwas part fae?"

"...I've had many relationships with many human women, and only one with a fae woman. I suspected he was most likely just a child from one of the relationships with a human woman, however I always knew there was the off chance he wasn't human."

You leaned back and crossed your arms, closing your eyes. "It makes sense. He's very much so similar to the Unseelie, and the way he acts...it's due to the honey...that explains a lot."

The two of you continued conversing about your moirail, and about the elder brother. And, at one point, about Sollux.

"Ah, Prince. Did you know that the elder Captor brother is actually part fae as well?" 

"...what." 

"Yes, Mituna is part fae. And a much weaker one than my son is related to, at that. At least, I assume."

You frowned some. No wonder they had the awful living situation they had. You knew their father couldn't work as much as he'd like to, as he and Sollux had to care for Mituna.

You'd met him a few times, and helped Sollux care for him while their father was at work, about half of those times. 

Though, neither of them resented him for any of it. They loved him, but it was stressful. Sollux had recently taken up a few freelancing coding jobs to help pay bills and for food, and Mituna's meds. You...felt bad for your kismesis. And you wished you could help.

"Thank you for telling me that. It...explains a lot."

He nodded and stood up, then set a hand on your shoulder. "You should be getting back to your sister. She'll need you."

You headed home, with a bit of a clearer mind now that you knew some things.

"Sollux!" You ran up to your kismesis after school, easily catching up with him.

"What'dya want, asshole?"

"I think I knoww howw to help your brother." You made sure to speak quieter when you said this. He stated at you for a moment, then started heading to his apartment.

"C'mon. Let's talk about this when we get to my place."

The two of you quickly got to his house, and made yourselves comfortable in the living room.

"He needs a creativve outlet." You dug around in your bag, then pulled out multiple sheets of paper.

"Why does he need a creative outlet exactly?" Sollux leaned over, raising an eyebrow.

"I wwas talkin' wwith Makara last night-" He scowled some. 

"And he told you about my brother's heritage."

"Yes! An' I kneww Mi was actin' wweird, but noww I realize wwhy! He must havve a powerful magical core, an' he's nevver had an outlet, so he's nevver been able to soothe it!"

"How does that have to do with _anything_?"

"Okay, okay. Wwe fae are vvery drivven by creativvity. Our society revolvves around it, because our magic does as well." You laid the art out on the table. "These are all wworks my magic has made for me."

Sollux furrowed his eyebrows. "But why?"

"Our magic can wwarn us 'a stuff that may happen ta us, or tell us about stuff that's happened to our souls in the past, or evven about things that havve happened in alternate existences- and wwithout a creativve outlet, it can't tell you any of this. The symptoms of a neglected magical core can range from a headache, to sevvere illness and a compromise immune system, to evven being completely unintelligible because you can't evven think."

"...so giving my brother a creative outlet will help him function better?"

"Yes!" You grabbed the things you'd bought for Mituna out of your bag. "It'll take time, an' wwe'll havve to find wwhat his magic is drawwn to, an' it wwon't be an instant or complete fix- but it'll help."

You froze up as you felt two sets of arms around you. One from behind, and one from in front. You could feel Sollux against you, and-

"Thank you." Their father whispered into your hair, as your shirt started to feel damp. "Thank you so much."

The three of you sat there for a little while. You ended up draping your arms around Sollux and setting your cheek against his hair. You didn't realize how happy it'd make them, giving them a reason Mituna was having so many problems, and how to help him. 

"He wwon't need meds anymore. An' you guys wwill still havve to help him, but not nearly as much."

"Thank you so much, Prince-"

"Eridan. Just...call me Eridan."

"Eridan." You felt a smile against your hair, and nuzzled into Sollux's.

Mituna honestly seemed to have a liking for you. You'd found it easy to help him, where as the other Captors have always had trouble with it. You found it easier to get him to do things, and calm him.

You sat down with him and started teaching him how to draw. The two of you spent time just drawing, you complimenting him when you thought he needed it, keeping him going. He wasn't the best, but he needed positive reinforcement to grow and learn.

You started to hum quietly as you drew, stretching out to be comfortable. Mituna put his colored pencil down and flopped down, dropping his head onto you. You glanced at him, then just kept humming softly as you drew, before starting to softly sing to him. Mituna eventually started humming along, and you set your pencil down to play with his hair. "Keep wworkin' at your drawwin', okay?" You asked softly, and he nodded.

Mituna could speak, but he often chose not to, as quite a few fae did as well. And you easily worked around it, as was polite.

The two of you spent a few more hours drawing, coloring, and singing. You eventually got him to sing with you as well.

You started to spend a lot more time with Mituna after that, helping him out and teaching him. And you didn't mind it at all, because you cared for him. He was one of your friends.

It was a couple of weeks after that, and you were getting ready for graduation. You could hear murmuring and whispering around you, but you knew better than to listen in, so you were focusing on something else. Until, Sollux came running up to you and hugged you.

"Thank you, ED." Sollux whispered into your shoulder, thankfully not crying. You'd rather not meds up your robe.

You wrapped your arms around him gently. "For wwhat?"

"My brother's in the crowd."

You knew how much that meant to him. He had always been upset that his brother would probably never be able to see him graduate, because he was never able to be comfortable in public. And that had also caused him to worry that his father wouldn't be able to show up.

And now he knew they were both there.

"There's no need ta thank me for doin' somethin' I wwould'vve done for any fae I kneww wwas havvin' the same problem."

You knew you would be the first person called, as they knew they couldn't use your full name. You had also had to promise to not use anyone else's full name in order to be a part of the ceremony(which you honestly wouldn't have done anyways, but you understood). You probably would've been one of the first anyways- they went alphabetically after all.

You sat in the first seat of the ones set aside for students, and as you passed Sollux's father he gave you a warm smile, that you returned. You sat down, then looked around for people you knew.

You saw Kurloz and his dad- Gamzee was pretty far away from you because of the fact that his last name started with an M.

You could also see Karkat's family. They were pretty easy to pick out of the crowd. Sadly, Karkat was also pretty far away from you- even farther than Gamzee. At least Sollux was pretty close to you.

You couldn't see your sister- but you hadn't expected her to show up anyways. She was busy.

But, you did see someone who looked like her. And someone who looked kinda like you.

They were sitting pretty close to the Captors, and they did share a sort of resemblance to them.

You also saw a couple of other families that you thought you vaguely recognized, but you couldn't put any names to faces.

You even spotted - you counted three - other fae in the crowd.

You heard the ceremony start, so you sat down and looked forward.

.

.

.

.

..

...

_**...Wasn't that an adventure?** _


End file.
